It’s hard to believe that the NTT IndyCar Series wrapped up the 2025 season nearly four months ago.
From a season dominated by the “Conquistador of Speed,” this year’s new Indianapolis 500 champion and three-peat IndyCar champion, Alex Palou, to many moments that had fans on the edge of their seats, America’s premier open-wheel racing series delivered 17 exhilarating races.
After reflecting on all the best and worst moments of the season, Frontstretch presents the winners and losers of various categories as IndyCar continues forward into 2026.
Driver of the Year: Alex Palou
What more can be said about the Spaniard?
Eight wins, 13 podiums, an average finish of 4.1, Indy 500 champion and one of the most dominant years in modern IndyCar history. It truly seemed like no one could stop this guy on any track layout. He is quickly on his way to challenging for the honor of greatest IndyCar driver of all time if he continues this pace.
Five of his eight wins came on road courses. That’s five out of seven that were on the schedule, and if it weren’t for human error at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, that total would have been six.
Palou has asserted himself as the driver to beat for years to come with four championships in five seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing, and the IndyCar world is just waiting for a true challenger to make a compelling fight to be the best in the sport today.
Driver of the Year (Not Named Palou): Kyle Kirkwood
The early fight for the title was fueled by the early success of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood.
While a finish of fourth in the standings doesn’t seem very appealing, the Jupiter, Fla. native notched the most wins in his career and second-most to Palou in 2025.
Despite being disqualified from the Indy 500, Kirkwood stayed competitive with an early win at Long Beach and back-to-back wins at Detroit and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in a thrilling race for his first career oval win.
While the end of the season wasn’t as flashy as the beginning, this season was still a big jump for Kirkwood after failing to win in 2024. It was his first true taste of fighting for a championship deeper into the season
Rookie of the Year: Robert Shwartzman
I know Louis Foster really won Rookie of the Year, but like how it’s awarded in the Indy 500 (i.e., Kyle Larson’s Indy 500 Rookie of the Year in 2024), I decided to give it to Robert Shwartzman instead for a remarkable season for the Russian-Israeli.
Running with a brand new team in PREMA Racing was a challenge compared to Foster competing in Rahal Letterman Lanigan equipment, and Shwartzman’s accomplishments towered over Foster’s for good reason.
Winning the Indy 500 pole the way he did impressed the IndyCar world more than the actual race itself, beating the likes of Pato O’Ward, Takuma Sato and Felix Rosenqvist, the first rookie to do so in 42 years. That alone is a grand slam of a lead-off.
Secondly, Shwartzman scored two top 10 finishes, both on ovals that he continually said weren’t his strong suit. Meanwhile, Foster didn’t score one top 10 all year.
The Rookie of the Year battle came down to Nashville Superspeedway, a race that featured a rookie mistake by Foster as he made contact with David Malukas.
Shwartzman had the better moments all season long and seems to have a better first season to build on as a driver, despite the shaky situation PREMA seems to be in.
Comeback Driver of the Year: Conor Daly
Conor Daly hadn’t raced full-time in IndyCar since 2022, but after a surprise podium in the doubleheader Milwaukee Mile weekend in 2024, Daly made the most of his opportunity with Juncos Hollinger Racing in 2025. Daly was one of the more sensational drivers to watch at a not-so-thrilling Indy 500, making daring passes and stretching his tire life to try to make the distance.
Unfortunately, it was too long a stretch and crushed any hope of winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Despite that, Daly proved that Juncos equipment can compete with the right driver on ovals and that he still has what it takes to be in the series all season long.
With Daly still on the market and one seat left at Dale Coyne Racing, it’s unclear if the Indiana favorite be on the grid in 2026, but he has more than proven he deserves a ride in this series for years to come.
Disappointing Driver of the Year: Marcus Ericsson
The 2022 Indy 500 winner didn’t have a stellar 2024 season in his move to Andretti Global, only earning one podium finish and finishing 15th in points while also bumping into the Indy 500 in last chance qualifying.
One would think that with Colton Herta finishing runner-up in the championship last season and Kirkwood’s early breakout, Marcus Ericsson would follow suit in the team’s success.
Unfortunately, the price is wrong there, Bob.
Try only one top five at a Toronto track that just departed the IndyCar schedule and one other top 10 at the season-opening St. Petersburg.
Tack on three DNFs and disqualification from what was already a gut-wrenching runner-up finish to Palou in the Indy 500, and that right there equals Ericsson’s worst IndyCar season of his seven years in the sport, with a finish of 20th in the standings.
The good news for Ericsson is that he will have a chance to rebound with Andretti again in 2026 alongside Power and Kirkwood.
Most Improved Driver: Christian Lundgaard
What a season for Christian Lundgaard!
In his first season for Arrow McLaren, Lundgaard proved a great addition to the team, scoring six podiums on the season, matching teammate and runner-up points finisher O’Ward.
The Dane asserted himself by taking three podiums in the first four races of the season, proving a master at permanent road courses.
After finishing 11th with RLL in 2024, Lundgaard’s No. 7 car rocketed to fifth in points for 2025. The same team had finished 15th in points with Alexander Rossi at the helm in 2024. For both Lundgaard and the team, that is a massive accomplishment.
The next step is to put that Chevrolet on the winner’s step, which would be Lundgaard’s first since his maiden victory at Toronto in 2023.
Race of the Year: Gateway
It’s a tall task to usurp the prestige of the Indy 500, but the Bommarito Auto Group 500 absolutely knocked it out of the park with a primetime classic that will be replayed for years.
Two masters of this track, Malukas and Josef Newgarden, looked to be the class of the field in the first half of the race, and it was looking like it would be an awesome battle between the two for the win.
That was until Newgarden failed to evade a wrecked Foster out of turn four and flipped after making contact with the No. 45 Honda in the most spectacular crash of the season.
With that and Malukas grazing the wall and losing pace, the door was open for just about anyone to win this race, which saw 19 lead changes from 14 different leaders, including one of the best battles of the season between O’Ward and Daly for the lead.
In the end, strategy played a hand in determining the victor as Kirkwood took his third and final win of 2025 to keep the championship interesting for only one more week.
Everything from the awesome IndyCar oval racing product, to racing under the lights, to the packed stands, to the iconic pyro on the backstretch – this race truly had everything you would want out of an IndyCar race in the modern era, and I can’t wait to watch it again next season.
Best Pass for the Win: Christian Rasmussen at Milwaukee
Not too long ago, RAM promoted the slogan “No guts, no glory.” Christian Rasmussen is the embodiment of that slogan in IndyCar when he races on pretty much any track layout, just ask Daly.
After driving aggressively to his first-ever podium at Gateway earlier this year, he backed it up at Milwaukee thanks to a literal divine rain cloud that sprinkled the track just enough for him to put on a set of fresh tires to work his way higher into the top five after running around 10th all day.
With an amazing restart and others staying out, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver challenged the dominant Palou for the lead with a tire advantage, leading to the most exhilarating battle of the season.
Drifting around the outside, Rasmussen took care of business and rode to an incredible upset win.
The Dane asserted himself as a daring oval driver this season, and it will be fun to watch his battles all of next season as the “Oval Prince” continues to master and improve on his skills
Drama of the Year: Penske’s Indy 500 Qualifying Infringement
From the very best to the very worst, Team Penske once again takes this award for infringements on Newgarden’s and Power’s Chevrolets in Fast 12 qualifying that barred the team from posting a lap and sent the two to the back of the grid for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 for altercations to the rear of the car that violated IndyCar rules.
With this, as well as the Push-to-Pass scandal from St. Petersburg in 2024, key members of the team, Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Bryan Moyer, departed shortly thereafter. It also contributed to the upcoming implementation of independent officiating in the series.
Not to mention having the owner of the series again be pushed into question amidst what should be the most celebrated time in the sport, it all turned into a disaster for the team and not a great look for the sport in the moment.
With the changes made for next season, Penske can hopefully avoid the negative spotlight and move forward in what looks like a very bright future for IndyCar.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing
That was a good read. Thanks Wyatt
That was a good recap of the season. A couple of good moments were mentioned that I’d forgotten about. Nicely done!
With a year at Arrow McLaren under his belt, might Lundgaard be the one to step up and challenge Palou in 2026? As the great article above notes, he was already competitive with O’Ward, with roughly equal equipment. And many feel O’Ward is currently the best driver in the paddock not named “Palou”.
With Honda considering leaving Indycar after 2026, I’ll be curious to see if they try to leave in a blaze of glory, throwing the kitchen sink at innovation, or if they just say “Meh. Good enough”, and put their racing R&D budget elsewhere. I realize the engines are mostly spec builds, but there’s always some room for improvement. Hopefully Honda decides to stay in the sport, but at least for now, it seems they are strongly considering an exit.